I only have a very small window to write, so it’s going to be brief.
But I can’t let the anniversary of October 7th to slip past without me doing a small reflection of the day.
It was a very full and moving day with so many micro stories that will unfortunately never be acknowledged.
Here is the radio interview that October 7th started with:
The rest of the day was spent at a vigil that was organised at the State Library. From 10am to 7pm. I'm so grateful that I took the day off work to be there.
The grass area at the front was covered with hundreds of paper poppied that had been made for weeks leading up to October 7. Poppies have become the unofficial flower for Palestine. They really helped set the scene.
But what really got me…was when they rolled in a red car covered in over 300 bullet holes. In memory of what happened to little Hind Rajab.
The car was such a powerful visual reminder of the horror that Hind experienced for hours leading up to her murder.
Hundreds and hundreds of names were read out during the day, of Palestinians who were slaughtered on October 7th…and of course we know that those numbers have climbed daily for the past three years. To think that whole families have been obliterated is impossible to comprehend.
Just at the end, a friend asked me if I would be willing to carry one of the “corpses” wrapped in a shroud. I had no idea of how something so “simple” would impact me.
Feeling the weight of the body in my arms made the it so real.
And of course, all I could think about was little Hind. As if she was in my arms.
It was all consuming.
And again, I recommitted to doing everything I can to use my privilege and voice to speak up for Palestinians. We have now crossed the three year milestone of a genocide that doesn’t seem to have an end point.
We can all do more.
(I’m so painfully aware I have not done justice to the vigil but I must rush off to my shift and don’t have another spare moment. Tonight is the Human Animals screening for those of you here in Melbourne) Tickets ONLY available here!
Oh…and I got my Facebook and Instagram back!!!! I will finally be able to share what happened.
Thank you for sharing this Veronica
I went to the vigil at Sydney Town Hall, it was very moving with poems and prayers. A poem written by a Sydney mother, imagining a mother in Gaza longing for 'one last hold' had me in tears
Not really that many people, but 3 news channels- the organisers JAO48 invited the press to speak with them, but sadly they did not, so the reporting of this event was highly inadequate, but this is how it's been for 3 years now
The Melbourne vigil looked like it was creative and must have had a big visual impact on the passers by- I hope so